James Brook / Design

The writer Adrian Ross approached me to design a cover for his novel, Sons of Great Men. As a designer of books for the art world, I was a little apprehensive to take on this job as I know that designing covers for fiction books has a very specific skill set. The design of fiction covers is often informed by marketing demands based on a need to appeal to very particular audiences and cover designers are skilled at communicating to these readers. Adrian told me that he was ‘thinking outside of the box’ and that I should treat my approach the design of the cover in the same way that I approached the design of a book for an artist.

When working with an artist, I usually work from the inside out and the cover is usually the last element to be designed. I am committed to the idea that the cover should reflect the design, layout and typography of the inside pages – the cover should offer the reader a taster of the interior structure of the book. I often use typography as a core element of the cover design, usually an ‘amplified’ version of the inside typography. Adrian suggested that he would be happy with a typographic approach to the design of his cover.

Adrian sent me a brief synopsis of the plot and some of the major themes from the book. I used these prompts to start thinking about how I might use typography for the cover and started to generate some rough ideas. One of the themes in the book is the theatre – a character in the novel is a ‘sometime actor and pantomime dame’ – this made me think of the blocky typography of playbills. Another theme is journalism and the male-dominated newsrooms of Fleet Street newspapers in the 1960s – this led me to think about inkiness, and the bold uppercase typography of the tabloids.

After several iterations which became progressively more and more layered and dense, I developed some more polished versions with variations in typography and colour that I presented to Adrian. Happily Adrian was very pleased with the approach that I had taken and, although he didn’t select my preferred version, he chose an option which was closest to my original idea. Adrian suggested that the design might be strengthened with the inclusion of some imagery; he sent me some photos (taken by himself) that he thought might work. I used an image of a typewriter on the front cover which fitted perfectly with the inky layers that I had developed and which amplified the themes of sixties journalism and writing.

Further iterations added colour to the design: a hot pink that punctured the heavy black and blue of the front cover. The pink bleeds over the spine and on to the back cover which echoes the layered typography of the front and includes a box for the ‘blurb’. I layered this rectangular box to add visual interest and to connect it to the layering of the background – by happenstance this suggested piles of typewritten pages or letters, another theme in the book. Adrian suggested that a staple in the top left-hand corner would push this idea further.

The pages of the book itself were typeset by Laura Kincaid, www.tenthousand.co.uk – Laura used the tyepfaces that I had used for the cover design for the half-title page, title page and for the chapter openings which gives a sense of cohesion to the book.

I finally got to see a copy of the finished book last weekend. As a designer who is skilled at print management, I usually see a book through print production so it feels odd to have not been involved with this process (but also liberating!). Also, as a designer who usually works very closely on the complete design and layout of a publication from cover to text pages it is strange not to be familar with the content of Adrian’s book having only read the cover blurb – I am very much looking forward to reading it!

Adrian Ross: James designed the cover for my debut novel, Sons of Great Men. He also designed the logo for my imprint, atwr books. It was a real pleasure working with him. He’s highly creative, with a can-do attitude – which is a super combination. This was the first novel he worked on, having previously established a sound reputation for designing art-related covers. He took up the challenge without hesitation, keen to push his own boundaries, and did a fantastic job.

With the book cover and the logo, James provided a theme with variations, which I appreciated, but in each case I went for the first design! I think that shows his artistic instincts are very strong. At the same time, he’s not precious about the work. Once he’d set up the typographical cover design, which achieved a beautiful layered effect, we agreed to add a photograph of a typewriter on the front. On the back, he set the blurb on ‘pieces of paper’, another effect that relates nicely to the novel’s plot. The finished product is something I’m proud to promote. Throughout our collaboration James was friendly, knowledgeable and efficient. I’d thoroughly recommend working with him.

The book will be published in 2026 by atwr books.

Sarah Knox Exhibition Poster and Invitation

The artist Sarah Knox asked me to design a poster and invitation for her exhibition at the Dundas Street Gallery in Edinburgh. Sarah supplied a selection of images for use and I created a simple layout featuring one of Sarah’s paintings and typeset in Minion Pro. The poster was adapted for two different poster formats and for social media. The same layout was used for a double-sided invitation which included a full bleed detail of one of Sarah’s paintings on the reverse. I also designed exhibition labels as well as other gallery signage. The posters and invitations were printed by the Edinburgh Copyshop in St Mary’s Street. The exhibition runs from Wednesday 1 October to Sunday 5 October 2025.

www.sarahknoxgallery.co.uk

Meeting Point Within the Lewisian

Meeting Point Within the Lewisian

Sgeir a’ Chòmhdhalaich San Gneiss Leòdhasach

Jake Harvey · Helen Douglas

Published by Taigh Chearsabhagh Museum + Arts Centre, 2025

Photography by Antonia Reeve, Glen Shepherd, Andy Mackinnon, Helen Douglas, Jake Harvey

Texts by Murdo Macdonald, Alan McKirdy, Juliet Kinchin, Joel Fisher, and Beth Williamson

ISBN 978 0 9535814 9 8

Casebound in Wicotex Brillianta fabric with foil blocked titles | 210 x 220 mm | 96 pages | Printed by Gomer Print, Wales, on 150 gsm Horizon Offset with 135 gsm Colorplan endpapers

This is a publication that I designed with sculptor Jake Harvey and book artist Helen Douglas for an exhibition at the Taigh Chearsabhagh Museum and Arts Centre in Lochmaddy, North Uist, 19 July to 27 September 2025. The exhibition will then tour to various venues including the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh.

Meeting Point Within the Lewisian is inspired by the travels and work of Dr James Hutton (1726–1797), widely acknowledged as the founder of modern geology, and has led the artists to Uist to experience the Lewisian gneiss complex, the planet’s oldest rock. The publication includes sculptures, book works and photographs that take the stone and coastal landscape of the Western Isles as a starting point, alongside texts by Murdo Macdonald, Alan McKirdy, Juliet Kinchin, Joel Fisher and Beth Williamson.

It has been really interesting working on the book with these artists – who are both highly experienced in publishing – after I had finalised a layout and grid for the book, the artists went away and created an actual size paper mock-up of the book pages using images printed to scale alongside print-outs of the essays and texts which I had typeset. From this guide, I then developed the layout of each page in InDesign, following the placement given by the artists, but making subtle changes and interventions to sit within the original layout and grid, and to accommodate page numbers, captions etc.

After further refinements and adjustments with the artists, the book was sent to the printer for printed proofs. Once we had recieved the proofs, I adjusted – in close collaboration with the artists – the colour, brightness and contrast of some of the images before proceeding to print. The book was produced on a very tight timetable but I am pleased to say that the finished books were ready ahead of schedule, in good time for the opening of the exhibition.

The book is printed on 150gsm Horizon offset, an uncoated paper that takes ink well, with printed endpapers in the same material. The cover is foil blocked with Foilco 612 Metro Grey on Wicotex Brillianta BRI4003 Light Grey fabric with grey head and tail bands. The book was printed and bound by Gomer in Wales who have taken great care and attention to do a great printing and finishing job – everyone is delighted with the book.

Logo for Writer Adrian Ross

This is a logo that I designed for the writer Adrian Ross who had initially approached me to design a cover for his book, Sons of Great Men. During the design process for the cover it transpired that he also needed a simple personal logo; as a starting point, Adrian suggested a circle with his initials in lowercase. After trying out various typefaces (mostly ones that had literary or bookish connotations) that I set tightly within the circle and touching or overlapping the edges of it, I settled on Museo, a typeface that I have used before and like very much because if its distinctive quirky character.

When tightly spaced, some of the extended semi-slab serifs of Museo connect. Other than changing the width of the bar of the letter ‘t’ to make it connect to the serif of the ‘w’, this design came together almost by magic – a case of serendipity when the letters joined together, with the ‘w’ becoming a dynamic design element. The logo is designed in two weights, regular and bold – Museo 300 and Museo 700 – and in positive and negative versions so it can be used in multiple ways. Myself and the client are really pleased with the abstract quality of the logo, which transcends the initials themselves to become visually arresting and slightly enigmatic.

Genevieve Draper: Slow painting

Genevieve Draper: Slow painting

Published by GD Publishing, 2025

Photography by Antonia Reeve

ISBN 978 1 0369 2174 3

Soft cover | 230 x 170 mm | 64 pages | Printed by Gomer Print, Wales, on 150 gsm Edixion Offset with cover printed on 300 gsm Edixion Offset

Slow painting is a publication that I designed for the painter Genevieve Draper. Although it was published to coincide with the artist’s exhibition at the Scottish Arts Club, it is intended as a survey of the artist’s work rather than an exhibition catalogue as it features work not displayed at the gallery. The publication is non-chronological and is structured around several themes and series of works taken from the artist’s practice, including early works painted while the artist was a student at Camberwell College of Art. It is book-ended with illuminating essays by Penelope Curtis and Erlend Clouston. Photography is by Antonia Reeve.

The book is typeset in Freight Sans Pro and Freight Text Pro and is based on a simple grid that allows for works of different sizes to be shown alongside each other. The design and layout was established after several meetings and discussions with the artist and was initially designed with placeholder text and images, ahead of the bulk of the work being photographed by Antonio Reeve. This is the first time that the artist has made a publication so I worked very closely with her, guiding her through the various stages of making a book, and keeping her her up-to-date with how the design was developing. As the book was populated with text and images the grid proved to be very flexible and was able to accommodate different needs such as multiple images on pages and headings that weren’t present in the original brief.

The book originally included a title page on the first page – a publishing convention that offers the viewer a pause, after the cover, before the book begins. In early drafts, Penelope Curtis’s essay about the artist’s practice followed immediately after the title page, but the artist decided the book needed an introduction from her, so, as we were tight with space, and had already reached the agreed page count, we placed this text on the first page, losing the title page. Originally titled To begin… this addition on page one, with an accompanying image of a painting on the inside cover means the reader is straight in to the main body of the book, an unconventional move that – I feel – is one of the design elements that positions the book as an artist’s book rather than a straightforward exhibition catalogue. For balance, the last page of the publication and inside of the back cover was designed in a similar way – as a double-page spread of biographies.

Originally titled Genevieve Draper: A Retrospective, the title changed several times to become Genevieve Draper: Slow painting, to reference the artist’s identity as a Slow artist and her carefully considered approach to painting. I have documented the title changes in a previous blog post, where the arrangement of type on the cover comfortably accommodates these variations. I had initially given the artist several options for cover images based on paintings that I felt made a strong statement but, in the end, we both agreed that the detail from the 1979 painting In the Garden at the Oval, London was the one – sometimes things just fall in to place.

It has been a pleasure working on this book with Genevieve, not least because of the many interesting conversations that we have had about painting, art school education, and maintaining an art practice.